Spiced paneer, wrapped in an egg soaked flatbread; this is one of the other best street vendor snacks from Kolkatta. These are known as paneer kathi rolls, or paneer Kolkatta kebabs. They taste just as good when cooked at home.
In a previous post, I discussed chicken kathi rolls. These paneer rolls are the vegetarian equivalent, or the chicken rolls are the non-vegetarian equivalent of these. Whatever the point of view, these are just great.
You have to careful cooking these to not make them oily. The recipe below uses as little oil as possible to cook the dish. The drier the filling, the better.
These are the simple lunch versions of typical street vendor snacks. Bollywood stars eat these every day whilst lounging around their pools, or so I am told.
the recipe
ingredients
for the roti
- 1 tbsp jaggery - grated
- 200 ml water - warmed
- 500 g whole wheat flour - (atta)
- 1 tsp salt
- 6 tbsp ghee - softened
for the filling
- 3 tbsp ghee
- 6 cloves garlic - crushed
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 dried red chilli
- 200 g tomato - finely chopped
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 30 g ginger - finely chopped
- 1 tbsp green chilli - seeds removed and finely chopped
- 2 tbsp coriander leaves - finely chopped
- 500 g paneer - diced into 1cm pieces
- ½ tsp salt
- 30 g ginger - finely shredded
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil - for frying
- 8 eggs - lightly beaten
- 1 red onion - finely sliced
instructions
- Dissolve the jaggery in the water and set aside.
- Mix the flour and salt into a bowl and rub in the ghee. Start adding the warm water and jaggery and knead in the bowl to form a soft, smooth dough. The longer you knead the dough the softer the roti will be. Divide the dough into eight equal balls. Cover and set aside to rest for half an hour.
- Toast and grind the coriander seeds and dried chilli.
- Heat the ghee in a pan over high heat. Add the paneer and fry for two minutes or so, until the outside goes golden brown. Drain and set aside.
- Add the garlic to the hot ghee and fry until it just starts to colour, then add the ground coriander and chilli. Next, add the tomatoes and stir well. Turn down the heat and fry for about 10 minutes, until the tomatoes reduce down to a pulp.
- Add the turmeric, chopped ginger, green chilli and half the coriander leaves to the tomato mix and stir well. Continue cooking for a few minutes more. Increase the heat and add the reserved paneer pieces to the pan. Season with the salt and fry, stirring for about 10 minutes.
- Add the shredded ginger, the remaining coriander leaves and the garam masala. Stir well and keep warm while you finish preparing each roll.
- Roll each of the roti balls into a small, thin flat disk.
- Put a small frying pan over medium heat and add a little oil. Pour two tablespoons of lightly beaten egg into the pan, cook for a moment, stirring, then place a roti on top, cook for a minute to set the egg before turning it over to cook through.
- Once roti is cooked, put it on a plate and spoon some of the paneer mixture down the centre. Add some of the sliced red onions and roll the roti over the filling. Wrap each roll in aluminium foil to keep them warm and intact. Repeat with the remaining roti and serve.
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